Driving Research, Enabling Innovation

Amid volatile times of conflict, trade disputes and climate change, the world’s demand for semiconductor chips has been steadily increasing. Singapore plays a role in meeting part of this increasing demand. Up to 5% of specialty chips are produced in Singapore and more is expected with the US$4 billion investment by GlobalFoundries earlier this year. It is not surprising that much research and development is being carried out to push the performance envelope for semiconductor devices. However, due to the nature of the industry, there is a huge barrier to entry for firms trying to innovate and develop new devices or techniques. The infrastructure requirements as well as the high cost of equipment means that only large semiconductor companies or universities are able to conduct research and development. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are left out, potentially restricting the amount of innovation in this space.

The Centre of Advanced 2D Materials (CA2DM) bridges this gap. Established in 2010, CA2DM has been enabling and driving research in 2 dimensional materials and the various applications. With a H-Index of 100+ and a m-quotient of 11, more than 1000 papers have been published since its establishment. CA2DM has 800m² of class 1000 and class 100 cleanrooms. It also houses a wide range of analytic, characterisation and fabrication tools for material research and device fabrication. Open 24/7, CA2DM is conveniently located in the campus of the National University of Singapore.

Companies can choose to enrol their staff to be users at the centre and utilise the equipment for a fee. CA2DM also provide services such as lithography, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, etc… For SMEs and researchers, they can choose to take up a collaborative laboratory space in our centre. Collaborative lab spaces are private lab spaces for SMEs and researchers, enabling them to carry out research or proof of concept experiments.

Interested parties can find out more at Our Solutions – Centre for Advanced 2D Materials (nus.edu.sg)

This article can be found in Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association (SSIA) VOICE Magazine Vol 29 (Nov 2023):
https://ssia.org.sg/ssia-voice-magazine/